Summary
Below average growing season rainfall and a relatively dry vintage led to a low yields and an average year for Barossa wines.
In 1956 there were 7,476 hectares of vineyards in Barossa and 23,986 tonnes of wine grapes were crushed in that vintage.
Highlights
The first “perle” style sparkling wine ever made in Australia, “Barossa Pearl” was produced at Orlando by adding grape juice to dry white wine and re-fermenting in pressure tanks. This affordable sparkling white wine in the distinctive skittle shaped bottle, was released on Guy Fawkes Day, November 5th and immediately became one of Australia’s great winemaking and marketing success stories.
In a year of innovations driven by technical director Colin Gramp, Orlando also commissioned the first semi-automatic Seitz sterile bottling line and launched the first Spaetlese Barossa Riesling.
Sources
SA Wine Grape Crush Survey, Vinehealth Australia and ‘Barossa Vintages: a wine history from 1842’, Peter Fuller
